Cruising with an 8-month-old Baby

Mackie Mouse

Mackie Mouse

Even my dog loves Disney
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Hello!

We'll be taking our fifth DCL cruise in two short months aboard the Magic for Halloween. This will be our first cruise as parents, however! Our daughter will be 8 months old when we sail, and my parents will be joining us. We've researched a lot of what we need to know about bringing a baby on board and have a pack and play, high chair, and some nursery time all set to go. I feel fairly confident about packing for our little girl. I think.

I'd love to hear what additional tips, insights, and recommendations you have to share, though! Thanks in advance.
 
Keep her schedule, as best as possible. Everyone will be happier :) My daughter appreciates us picking up the slack for the grandkids and in the past we have put my older grandson to bed so they could head out - we always have connecting cabins. This time we will have two grandkids (11 months and 7) so we will see what is different :)
 
It was 17 years ago so I can't really remember any good tips for you but I can share some encouraging news. On our first Disney Cruise our DSs were 8 months and 3.5 years old and I do remember the 8 month old was much easier to deal with than his older brother. ;) Good luck and enjoy the memories you will make.
 


dad of 3 addicted to DCL said:
Brave soul... :)
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We had this cruise booked a long time ago an originally intended to take it last year. We've been battling infertility and pregnancy losses since late 2013, and IVF was in the cards last year. The thought was that if I managed to get pregnant we'd move the cruise to 2017, and if I didn't we'd really, really need to get away for a week. As you've for sure figured out...IVF worked, our Amazing Baby of Science is here, and we are THRILLED to take her with us on this first big family vacation together! If we accomplish nothing all week and wind up hanging by the pool and in our stateroom the entire time the trip is still a success as far as I'm concerned ;)
 
Mackie Mouse said:
We had this cruise booked a long time ago an originally intended to take it last year. We've been battling infertility and pregnancy losses since late 2013, and IVF was in the cards last year. The thought was that if I managed to get pregnant we'd move the cruise to 2017, and if I didn't we'd really, really need to get away for a week. As you've for sure figured out...IVF worked, our Amazing Baby of Science is here, and we are THRILLED to take her with us on this first big family vacation together! If we accomplish nothing all week and wind up hanging by the pool and in our stateroom the entire time the trip is still a success as far as I'm concerned ;)
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Fantastic! Congratulations from a couple who had similar struggles! :thumbs up:!!
 
llachance said:
Keep her schedule, as best as possible. Everyone will be happier :) My daughter appreciates us picking up the slack for the grandkids and in the past we have put my older grandson to bed so they could head out - we always have connecting cabins. This time we will have two grandkids (11 months and 7) so we will see what is different :)
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Hoping to stick to her schedule as best we can, but be somewhat relaxed about exactly when and where naps happen in case she's not thrilled about adjusting to sleeping in the same room with us in a pack and play for the week. We have connecting rooms with my parents, too, hoping that'll help with bedtime and alternating supervising the little after she's asleep.
 


My kids are older now too, but we tried to keep the bedtime schedule as close to normal as we could. Thankfully, my kids were always okay with napping in a stroller and keeping a fairly flexible nap schedule.

When my kids were small I love traveling with a grandparent or with my sister who has similarly aged kids so that we could take turns going out after the little ones were in bed.

I always found my kids to be pretty easy to travel with as infants, the toddler years were harder for us since they no longer napped in the stroller and sometimes had a hard time feeling overwhelmed by being on vacation. The only thing I would say is to make sure you have some extra diapers. I also made sure to pack infant medications too, but most of our travel has been international and I don't want to guess on dosage in a language I am not fluent in. Other than that just remember to go with the flow. As I am sure you already know sometimes things don't go as planned when you have a young child so be prepared for plans to change and don't sweat the small stuff.
 
Mackie Mouse said:
We had this cruise booked a long time ago an originally intended to take it last year. We've been battling infertility and pregnancy losses since late 2013, and IVF was in the cards last year. The thought was that if I managed to get pregnant we'd move the cruise to 2017, and if I didn't we'd really, really need to get away for a week. As you've for sure figured out...IVF worked, our Amazing Baby of Science is here, and we are THRILLED to take her with us on this first big family vacation together! If we accomplish nothing all week and wind up hanging by the pool and in our stateroom the entire time the trip is still a success as far as I'm concerned ;)
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Sounds like you have the most important part - a positive attitude and realistic expectations! I agree with the previous poster, try to keep her on her schedule as much as possible. And... bring extra diapers!

Good luck and enjoy your family vacation!
 
3monkeys4me said:
I also made sure to pack infant medications too, but most of our travel has been international and I don't want to guess on dosage in a language I am not fluent in. Other than that just remember to go with the flow. As I am sure you already know sometimes things don't go as planned when you have a young child so be prepared for plans to change and don't sweat the small stuff.
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Baby Tylenol and Motrin! Good things to remember.
 
We cruised in Feb with our just under 1 year old. We were really nervous because she does not travel well. She did great and we took full advantage of the nursery. We thought it was well worth the additional cost to take her there for dinner and the shows at night.
 
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